Response to Stephen Boissoin

Because Stephen Boissoin chose not to leave a contact email address, I am writing a public response to his comments on my weblog post on the 22 of January.

I want to thank Mr. Boissoin (from now on I will refer to him as "you") for responding so promptly to my sermon and for taking the time to read it and post a lengthy reply.  I have several things that I think are important to say in response to your comments.

Firstly, you say that my critique of your letter was unfair because I did not understand the context in which it was written.  Now, I certainly agree that context is important.  However, when a letter to the editor is written to a public newspaper I assume that you are opening your thoughts to public scrutiny.  I also assume that in writing a letter to the editor that you will make the situation clear and understandable enough to a general audience not familiar with your situation.  I think it was completely justified for me to comment upon this letter and not at all unfair because I was not fully apprised of your situation.  Had I been commenting on a piece of your private correspondence, then I would have had to tread more sensitively.  And certainly, I welcome the opportunity to more fully understand your position, and I hope that we will be able to have a continued dialogue.

In terms of the integrity of my remarks.  I certainly am sorry that you took offense, but I believe that we have a right and a Scriptural obligation to test all prophetic statements from fellow Christians to see if it is from God (1 Cor. 14.29).  This was not meant as slander or as a way to make other Christians pre-judge your remarks.  I merely was using a publicly issued statement to engage the important question of how Christians are to engage the world.  I believe I had every right to do that, and I believe that my remarks were as respectful and understand as possible, while not at the same time being untruthful.

Secondly, you say there is nothing ungracious or unloving towards anyone in your letter.  I beg to differ.  If I were a homosexual activist I am convinced that I would find your letter deeply hurtful.  I believe this is why the Alberta Human Rights Commission found against you.  As an Anabaptist Christian, I believe that we must treat all people, even our enemies, with love and respect.   While I understand that you are borrowing from Biblical judgment language to justify your approach, I wonder what role Jesus' admonish to "judge not, lest you be judged..." (Mat. 7.1ff) plays whenever we resort to this type of condemnatory language?

Furthermore, you say I take exception to your letter based on its "tone," which you feel I incorrectly inferred.  If I had done this, I can see how you could have made a complaint.  However, I was focusing on the words that you used and the intended meaning of those words.  To say that a homosexual activist is no different than a drug-dealer, pimp, and pedophile requires no interpretation to see that your intention is to name these people as threats to community, society, and innocent children.  This is inflammatory language.   Perhaps you feel justified in using it.  I think I had the right to ask the question whether or not the use of this kind of language violated the Golden Rule (Lev. 19.18, Mat. 19.19) and Christ's command to love our enemies (Mat. 5.43ff).  In my mind this is not the way you engage in dialogue in our society, and it in no way promotes the name of Christ in the world.

You name this as my "Christian version of Political Correctness."  I take exception to this.  In no way is this political correctness, a view which I find philosophically indefensible.  In fact I emphatically stated that my vision of tolerance is a theological idea rooted in the Sermon on the Mount.  This idea I gained from reading John Howard Yoder.  Specifically I stated:

The vision this passage (Matt. 5.43ff) calls us to affirm is that every human person deserves equal respect. And the reason why all people of all cultures, ideologies, orientations, etc deserve equal respect isn’t because their cultures, ideologies, orientations, etc. are equally healthy or have earned equal treatment. No. Every human person deserves equal respect because God doesn’t distinguish between people, he sends rain on the righteous and the unjust.

Another response to your letter is this idea that you felt that God ordained you to write this letter and this somehow gives you a carte blanche against criticism from other Christians.  Again, as an Anabaptist Christian I believe that God does not speak in contradiction to the Bible; and I believe that the community of believers must test all words from God (again, see 1 Cor. 14 on orderly worship).  I do not mean to derail another's ministry, I do think that your remarks need some reconsideration in light of Scripture.  I hope that people will feel bold enough to challenge me when they feel that I have gone off the rails.

Finally, as someone who holds fairly conventional beliefs on sexuality, and who belongs to a conservative-evangelical denomination with a conservative stance on sexuality, I am not really all that concerned that my children will be exposed to a pro-homosexual stance.  I believe that the best antidote to unhealthy sexual influences in the lives of my children will come from the open, honest attitude that I approach these topics with my kids, and my own modeling of what I feel healthy sexuality is to my children.  I cannot keep my children from being exposed to the negative influences of the world.   But I can prepare them and help them to make good and healthy choices.  To live in fear of the world and the agendas of people who believe differently than me I believe goes against God's intention that our lives be filled with joy and compassion.

Finally, I note that yes, as Christians we believe in the possibility of hell - that some might end up eternally separated from God.  I am sobered to think that most often when Jesus directed his words of warning about hell at people they were not directed at the sinners, but rather at the religious people who felt that they had figured out God.

I welcome further dialogue and exchange.

David Eagle
Lead Pastor, Saanich Community Church

Comments

[Stephen Boissoin]

David,

As I have previously stated. I believe that Christians should aim to understand and care for one another. Public debate between Christians is most often a battle of egos. I am not interested in that battle. I too can easily craft articulate responses that include scripture.

If you or any others wish to get to know 'me', why I wrote that letter and the many other letters to the editor that were part of our communities debate at that time, my email is sboissoin@gmail.com or my cell number is (403) 304-5400. That one letter has been taken way out of the political debate that was boiling in my community back in 2002 and its context has been distorted because of such.

Regardless of Anabaptist or Pedobaptist (not sure why that is relevant) I too believe that Christians should respectfully debate doctrine and other socio-political issues. Though I also believe they should have the respect, humility and courage to ensure that they fully understand each other before they make a sermon out of a brother in Christ and put that sermon on the internet. This again is where I believe you have erred. Do you know how this media attention has effected me and my family for the last five years? Is that important to you?

As your brother in Christ, equal in Christ, I ask you pray for me and for God's justice, not mine, not yours.

Bless you,

Stephen Boissoin